The outdoor area of the Barrington Plunket Clinic has been refreshed with help from some of our Year 12 students and the University of Canterbury (UC) Student Volunteer Army (SVA).

In March, two of our Y12 students, Emma Blackwell and Angus Boyd, alongside the UC SVA and other Year 12s from local schools, took on the project as part of the SVA’s Year 12 UCan programme. In a single morning the group painted fences and railings, and removed two trailer loads of waste and other items. A total of 320 kilograms of green waste was removed from the site – making a huge difference to the area available for development.

Rebecca Brundell, Plunket Community Support Coordinator said “The students on the SVA UCan programme have done an amazing job and I cannot thank them enough. We would certainly not be able to get projects like this done without their support.”

The UCan Year 12 programme encourages local secondary students to become leaders in their communities through volunteering, while being mentored by SVA members. Along with getting out and making a difference in the community, the Year 12 students also got to learn more about the SVA, how it was founded, and the work it continues to do in the community. The students will also be challenged with coming up with a project idea that they would like to implement within their own school and/or community.